Rinnai has announced that, after an extensive testing and verification process, its N Series product range is ‘hydrogen ready’ for the proposed initial supply of natural gas and hydrogen blends fed through the gas pipeline infrastructure.
Rinnai also says that multiples of its existing ranges are retro compatible with future hydrogen blending – including any N series models installed since 2019,
The company’s Chris Goggin said: ”This is a major announcement for our customers’ installations whether current or planned – it simply means that you are future-proofed. It also means that if you have installed any one of the N Series range since December 2019 these models are also hydrogen ready.
‘There are four models in the N Series range: the N1600i giving 954 litres per hour; the N1600e (external) also giving 954 litres per hour (at 50 degrees); the N1300i giving 775 litres per hour and the N1300e also giving 775 litres per hours of temperature- controlled water at 50 degrees. The two 1600s have load profiles of XXL and are water efficiency class A rated, while the 1300s are load profile XL and are also water efficiency class A rated.
“Decarbonisation is the goal for all of us, but it won’t be achieved by a single product type or energy vector. There will be the requirement for different energy sources whether that be hydrogen, electric or district heat, all will be required to achieve widespread decarbonisation.
“It is not productive for anyone or anybody to be agnostic towards different fuels. We need to respect all technologies and be pragmatic and logical when considering services design within our very diverse building stock.”
Hydrogen has already been successfully supplied to the Keele University campus in the Midlands. HyDeploy, the first project in the UK to blend hydrogen into a natural gas network, began the trial in October 2019 with a 20% blend to 100 homes and 30 university buildings. During the trial customers at Keele used hydrogen blended gas safely in their homes and without the need to make any changes to their existing appliances.
The next phase is at Winlaton, near Gateshead, which makes history by becoming the first public network to receive a 20% hydrogen blend. There are 670 houses in the trial area plus the church, primary school and several businesses which will all receive the hydrogen blend for a period of around 10 months. For those interested in the impact of Industrial clusters please refer to the Hynet program in the northwest where it is expected that over 2 million buildings from Liverpool to Manchester will receive blended hydrogen, in the not-so-distant future.
Rinnai has recently committed to creating a comprehensive information hub dedicated to the subject of hydrogen as a low-carbon energy for the future. The Rinnai Hydrogen Information Hub will be aimed at building services consultants, engineers, specifiers and end-users. It will be online and include webinars plus all requested digital or onsite meetings.
